


Getting to Know You

by RainbowArches



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Changing Tenses, F/M, I Believe in Jasper Sitwell
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-10
Updated: 2015-10-10
Packaged: 2018-04-25 18:07:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4971070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RainbowArches/pseuds/RainbowArches
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's a guessing game.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Getting to Know You

It was a game they played. For some reason it was the only way they talked to each other. It wasn’t as though they didn’t like each other- though they could try having a normal conversation; see if that was the case; see if they weren’t pretending. It could be that it was fun and easy and they didn’t want to break the spell, didn’t want to ruin their moments away with real life. Yes, judging each other and practicing their poker faces was their idea of fun. There were no consequences if they guessed wrong or if their mask slipped. They could give as much or as little as they wanted and it wouldn’t come back to bite them because as far as either of them knew it was all fiction.

Jasper studied her from across the table. Akela waited. She thought this must look like a job interview to the other patrons, with him in his suit, his brief case resting next to him, and her in semi-formal office attire. Not that she had to worry about people paying attention to them; it’s why they came here all the time.

“You were in the foster system- several short-term arrangements, lots of high maintenance kids and unreliable parents. You found yourself picking up the slack most of the time. You learned to take care of yourself at a young age, making it hard for you to rely on others. You kept to yourself but always ended up in trouble anyway. Your short temper and no-nonsense attitude didn’t make you very popular, so you were surprised and pleased, even if you wouldn’t admit it, when Coulson showed up and offered you a secret agent job.”

Akela calmly sipped her tea and smiled very deliberately. “No. My turn.”

Jasper sighed and leaned back, presenting himself for study.

Akela squinted at him for a while, then straightened up and tented her fingers. “Your parents were good people but they worked a lot so they didn’t have a lot of time for you. They had their own business, something they wanted you to carry on when you grew up, so you studied hard and kept yourself busy with soccer, swimming lessons, chess club, yearbook committee, all the extracurriculars. The most important thing was making your parents proud of you, which they were, and are, but you were nervous because they had expectations and you weren’t interested in the family business. You kind of fell apart in college. You drifted, couldn’t focus on anything, maybe you were lonely. Mostly you were there to stall because you didn’t want to confront your parents without a plan. That’s when Coulson found you.”

“Hmm. Nice story. Bit boring. Also wrong.”

“It’s better than the troubled, wrong side of the tracks teen who turns her life around with the help of a well-meaning, cookie-cutter, freaking white picket fence and a dog…”

“Coulson.”

“Right.”

 

“Boarding school,” Jasper says, slightly breathless as Akela kisses and nips along his neck, down his chest. “Probably a Catholic boarding school, but you got kicked out for, I don’t know, picking fights with the nuns or something.”

“No.” She catches his wrists as he reaches for her breasts and pins his hands above his head. She kisses his mouth; it’s more tongue lashing than kissing, but in the heat of the moment they don’t notice. “Bet you were a hell raiser.” She starts moving her hips and he moans.

“Wrong,” he pants.

 

Akela’s parents had made a valiant effort to put their problems aside and raise her together, but had sense enough call it quits before they exploded and Akela got caught in the crossfire. She was eight when they divorced. In the long run it was the best thing for everyone, but it was a tricky process and Akela was too much of a handful for either of them to handle alone. So her mother’s aunt took Akela in. Great auntie Emma was a stern, poised, queenly old woman. Akela lived with her for a week before she realised Emma wouldn’t stand for any troublemaking, and subsequently believed she was a witch for way too long. Emma got Akela a private tutor because she was rich and education was important. She put her through ballet and piano lessons for a few years before Akela finally worked up the courage to ask if she could do swimming and choir instead. She didn’t start to seriously consider college until Emma started trying to marry her off.

College wasn’t fun. Akela didn’t think she was a princess but everyone else did. She made friends but not with people she liked. She was pretty sure one of her professors had a crush on her. Funny how that’s what she remembers of her college experience. Everyone else remembers the drunken frat party that got really violent, and the security guard who turned out to be a secret agent, and how Akela saved his life. She doesn’t remember the details, only that it landed her a job at SHIELD. Emma had died around the same time, so she’d been a little preoccupied. Emma had left Akela a sizable inheritance, which Akela was careful to hide. Even if she couldn’t fit in at SHIELD either, she wanted to at least _blend_ in.

She thinks about Emma a lot while she’s stealing diamonds for people who probably don’t need them. She misses her aunt’s care and guidance, especially now that she’s old enough not to be deterred by her demeanor. She considers offering her handler money, but she’s afraid he’d trace it to her parents. She hasn’t seen her parents since the funeral; she misses them too. After SHIELD finds her, after the trial and once she`s back on her feet, she gets to see them. Only a few times, because not long after that, HYDRA crawls out of the woodwork.

Coulson doesn't need too much convincing to take Jasper back to base when they find him. He's in bad shape, fading in and out. Sometimes he wakes up tight-lipped and suspicious, other times he's frantic and trying to escape. It’s a while before the first time he wakes up and can name the people in the room with him and exhibits any sort of trust in them. That night Akela climbs into bed with him, curls around him and tells him her story.

 

“My mom was a teacher and my dad was a cop.” He can't tell if Akela's awake or not. Even if he's talking to himself right now that's okay. It helps him to remember where he started. He grounds himself in his story. The important thing is that he feels safe enough to tell it out loud. “My dad died in a car crash when I was five. My mom died of cancer when I was ten. My sister Nina raised me and my little brother all by herself. She brings it up whenever she's craving strawberry cheesecake. She was the one who taught me how to cook. By the time I was seventeen and Jacob was sixteen, Nina had two kids of her own so we stepped up and took on more responsibilities, looked after ourselves. I was good at it, Jacob wasn't. I was constantly fishing him out of trouble, not be because he was a bad kid, but he was naïve and people took advantage of him. I joined SHIELD to keep him off their radar, because that's the extent of the trouble he got dragged into. SHIELD probably figured it out a long time ago but he's since learned to mind his own business so they've left him alone.”

At some point Akela had started running her knuckles up and down his ribs. “How is your family these days?”

“They’re fine. I don’t see them much.”

He wrapped his arms more tightly around her and shifted them into a more comfortable position. “Well, now that we both know what really happened, what are we going to talk about?”

Akela yawned and tucked her head under his chin. “I’m sure we’ll think of something. Just not tonight.”

“Guess what the mission that no one talks about was.”

“Go to sleep Jasper.”


End file.
